Updated on: Thursday, August 22, 2013
Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam, of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University signed an agreement with Ambiply Panel and Door for promotion of Melia Dubia, a raw material for plywood industry, in Tamil Nadu, through agro and farm forestry sytemConsortia Model Contract Plywood farming.
The model will ensure buy back and assured price supporting mechanism for the melia growers and also create sustained supply of quality raw material to the plywood induystry, through out the year, an institute release said here.
Stating that this would help to reduce Co2 level through Carbon Sequestration, it said this has accumulated a biomass of 300 tonnes per hectre in six year and remove 150 tons of atmospheric CO2 and help to protect reserve forest area.
Melia Dubia, grown in Sikkim, North Bengal, Khasi hills of Odisha, Deccan Plateau and Western Ghats, has been identified as a fast growing species, amenable for plantation, it said.
The wood is greatly preferred by veneer and plywood industry and it fetched Rs 7,500 per tonne once it reached a girth of 20 inches. Farmer will be able to get Rs. six to eight lakh from one acre, withint six years, the release
claimed.
The agreement was signed at a function, were Dr K Ramasamy, Vice-Chancellor, TNAU, G Madan Kumar, Managing Partner, Ambiply, P Durairasu, Dean, FC and RI, were present among others, the release said.